While some people go to church to find inner peace or just relax at home for some quiet time, the Sunday of a Wildcat looks a bit different. He doesn’t look for peace, he is looking for war, he doesn’t like the quiet, he likes to make noise. As he puts on his battle armor and war paint, he looks around him, into the eyes of his fellow warriors and sees their battle spirit. They know this day is a change for glory, for blood and guts to be spilled in honor. They look up at their war chief while on one knee to listen to his battle cries, inspired, they all shout; ‘WILDCATS!’ and take it to the battle field. Their opponent, all dressed in rival colors, looking to crush the smaller group of Wildcats, think that the fact they outnumber and outsize them, means a sure victory. But they couldn’t be more wrong, because the Wildcat warriors have something you cannot measure, something you cannot teach, something you cannot underestimate, they have heart. The Wildcats discuss their war tactics and go to battle, remembering what they heard the war chief say, to win by any means necessary. Today will be the day, they win or die, on the battle field.

JUST A REGULAR SUNDAY // 18-05-2015

A friendly game saw the Maastricht Wildcats take the field versus the Limburg Shotguns at their place in Belgium on Saturday 06-12-2014. It was a cold night and the field was less than desirable but it would prove to be a fun night. After arriving, dressing and doing the warm ups, the Wildcats were ready for their first game, which, for about 70% of the players, was their first real football experience. We played against a team that played well together and had more time to prepare, yet it was a close call. The very first play of the Shotguns was intercepted by Wildcats standout corner, Jason Millenaar. A good sign. Then the Wildcats were able to move the ball, but unable to capitalize early. It was a tough battle with some good and bad plays from both sides. The wildcats forced another turnover with a fumble recovered by Emmanuel Merkus, after which the Wildcats’ first touchdown came when Quarterback Noah Kahindi connected with wide receiver Bart Hendriks on a fade route for the touchdown. But it looked like the field took its toll on the defense as some bad tackling was the result of incorrect positioning, giving the Shotguns a good rushing attack. The Wildcats’ second touchdown came on a brilliant run by Shernaton de Leeuw, after getting some good initial blocks from the O-line and a nice double block from Ken van de Weerdt. But it would not be enough as the final score turned out to be 32-12 for the Shotguns. The Wildcats showed they had some stuff to learn and work on, but the game was closer as the score would suggest, which makes it a great accomplishment considering the lack of experience from most of the starters.

The offensive line looked better than all of last season, making way for the offensive MVP; Shernaton de Leeuw. and the defense made some big plays, like the 2 interceptions from defensive MVP Jason Millenaar. A good start, now let’s work hard together for a better finish!

WILDCATS VS SHOTGUNS // 06-12-2014

RETREATING FROM DUTCH COMPETITION // 01-11-2014

This of course does not mean we will not play any games! We will try to fill the year with, friendly games, scrimmages and joint practices, to see how we are growing as a team. And for the very competitive amongst us, we always compete against each other each and every practice!

SETTING UP OWN COMPETITION // 01-11-2014

This is a rebuilding year for the celebrated Wildcat club, as we start to work back to the glory this team was once known for. The club suffered some losses along the way, and now has to start picking it back up again, always looking for new members to our ever growing family. And with that in mind this year is dedicated to rebuilding, practice and promotion, so the team decided it was best to take a step back from the competition to work up to a competitive level in the near future.

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NEW UNIFORM // 10-03-2015

The new look is here!

The Wildcats will now flash their new uniforms on game day. This new design, created by Yongbloed, represents the new fresh start the Wildcats are making. The team colors remain and we added a little splash of orange to represent the national pride. Take a look at them at the photo/video area, or come check them out on gameday when you come to cheer your Wildcats on!

It's an early Friday morning, you are standing in the school yard with your friends when all of a sudden you hear some loud screaming and grunting...

You see a group of maniacs dressed in flashy gear storm out of a school bus looking ready to tear something up! This is what the kids from Porta Mosana College witnessed on their LSD (Last school day).

The day was themed; American Old School. So of course the best American football team had to be there as well! Some kids of this school play for the Wildcats flag team so they contacted us to join in the festive occasion,

always looking to promote and show off our brand new uniforms the Wildcats happily agreed, and together with the Maastricht University Cheerleading squad we kicked off the show!

LSD - PORTA MOSANA COLLEGE // 24-04-2015

RECAP GAME VS ANDENNE BEARS // 30-06-2015

On Sunday 28th of June, The Maastricht Wildcats played a home game against the Andenne Bears. The Bears were freshly coming of a full season and it showed in their teamwork. The Wildcats, even though they had 7 starters who played their first game and only 6 players who had more than a few months experience, put up a great fight and looked like they were equally matched to the Bears for most parts of the game, only to come up short on the score board. Their offense had some great drives led by QB and Coach Bart Hendriks, behind a line that was passprotecting like the best of them. A group consisting out of Kalin "Kiko" Ivanov, Emmanuel "Maan" Merkus, Rob "Big Red" Juneman, Robin Kuijpers and the big youngster Joey Caris. Unfortunately the offense seemed to almost always shoot themselves in the foot, either with dropping wide open passes or penalties. Both of those things will be easily corrected with practice and experience. And when they get it clicking on all cilinders, this offense looks like it has the potential to be great. On the defensive side the lack of depth showed, the defensive line consisted mostly out of the offensive line who ,in the heat, had a hard time staying energized the whole game. However the defense played a good game together and didn't allow any big plays, but unfortunately were sometimes put in a bad starting posistion and had some trouble with the run game from time to time. The secondary looked great as usual even though they saw newcomers in Corner Bryan Smeets, a 17 years old who played an amazing first game, and the eventual MVP Jaimy Hermans, who had a big interception and a couple of huge hits in his first game. With Glenn van de Berg and Nick Goossens flying all over the field making tackles and Stef Goossens pushing aside linemen like they are made out of cookie dough, with some more practice, experience and depth, this defense might be just as, if not even more, scary as the offense. Overall it was a great experience, the new guys loved their first taste of real football and are looking for more!

So look for this team to be even better the next time they hit the field.

REMEMBERING KIKO // 9-10-2015

On the 4th of October one of our Wildcats family members had a terrible motorcycle accident that left the world without a good teammate, great Center, loving husband and amazing father. He will sincerely be loved and missed by many, and our condolences go out to his family. I find it extremely hard to write about, because it makes it seem more real, and so far, I still haven't fully come to grips that this horrible thing has happened. When thinking about Kalin Ivanov, or "Kiko" as we all better knew him, so many things I could write about come to mind. I could write stories about his leadership, leading the whole offensive line into battle. I could write about his own talents on the field, easily stopping opponents in their tracks and protecting my ass like it’s made of money. I could write about his contagious smile. Or about so many other great things, but 1 thing always stands out the most when thinking about him these couple of days, and it’s the reason it hurts so much to think about. What always springs to mind is his beautiful little girl… When she was with him you couldn't find a happier guy in the room, smiling from ear to ear with nothing but pride for his daughter. We wish her and the loving wife he had to leave behind all the strength in the world to deal with this. For ever you will be missed by the whole Wildcat family, and we will fight even harder to honor your memory. Goodbye, my friend and best center I ever worked with.

- Coach

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Recap Vs Eindhoven.

The Wildcats took the field for the first official game of the season against the Eindhoven Raptors. Because the Wildcats joined the season late there were some scheduling issues and they had to change their home game to an away game. This did not affect the outcome however because they still come away with a win! It wasn't pretty, it wasn't great, it wasn't perfect, but, it was enough to win. The defense did a great job, holding eindhoven to only 6 points, getting a big strip sack from Glenn van de Berg to set the offense up in great position for a game winning field goal. The offense was struggling however but did produce 9 points, with a TD run from Denny Horton and a late 4th-quarter field goal from Sebastian Bormans. All in all this was enough for the win with 9-6.

But there is also a lot to work on. Since this was the first game for a team that consist for 90% out of young guys and rookies, it was a great accomplishment to continue to build on. Go wildcats!

Recap Vs Nijmegen.

The Wildcats travelled to Nijmegen to face the Pirates. They were shorthanded and missing a lot of key players, especially on the O-line and it showed early. A lot of missed blocking since players who never play the position had to play it. The defense did a great job again in the first half to stop them, but started getting winded in the second half after being on the field almost all the time because offensive struggles were to many to overcome. A sad outcome with 0-21. The team keeps their heads up though and will work hard to try and get a win again next game! Go Wildcats!

April 24, cancelled game.

The game against the Amersfoort Untouchables was cancelled, because the team had pulled back from the competition. This is a sad reality for a lot of teams in the Netherlands because it is still a small sport. We hope to face them in the future when they have build back up and continue to grow with this great sport in the Netherlands!